Trio of complaints filed in Fort Collins City Council race

Complaints are aimed at M.L. Johnson in council District 1 contest

Feb. 26, 2013

M.L. Johnson

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The race for Fort Collins City Council has just begun, but already three election-related complaints have been filed with the City Clerk’s Office.

All of the complaints target M.L. Johnson, who is running for the seat from council District 1, which covers the northeast part of the city.

A complaint by council member Lisa Poppaw claims Johnson failed to register as a candidate within 10 days of announcing his intention to be a candidate in the April 2 election, as required by city code.

A complaint from Gina Janett, a former council member, alleges Johnson violated city code by soliciting and possibly accepting campaign donations before registering a campaign committee.

And a complaint from lifelong city resident Nancy York claims Johnson’s role as a host of a radio program on Longmont station KRCN might violate city regulations regarding in-kind campaign donations.

Johnson said the complaints are “spurious and have no merit.”

“These are attempts to bully me out of the race, and that’s not going to work,” he said.

City Manager Darin Atteberry said Scott Krob, a Greenwood Village attorney who occasionally does work for the city, will investigate all of the complaints and issue a report.

Outside counsel was hired to handle the matter to avoid a potential conflict of interest, he said. Atteberry and the city attorney work directly for the council.

Four candidates are seeking election from the district; Johnson, Bob Overbeck, Butch Stockover and Bryan Payne. The district’s current representative, Ben Manvel, is term-limited after serving eight years on the council.

Johnson said elements of the Democratic Party are supporting Overbeck and do not want him in the race. Endorsements from Manvel, Janett and Poppaw are included in Overbeck’s online campaign material.

City Council races are nonpartisan, and party affiliation typically is not included in campaign materials.

Poppaw filed a complaint after learning Johnson announced his intention to run for City Council in December 2010 during a strategy meeting of Democratic operatives. City code requires a candidate to file an affidavit within 10 days of publicly announcing his or her candidacy. Johnson filed a candidate affidavit in April 2012.

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Poppaw said as council member, she had a duty to report potential violations of city code. Guidelines on the city election rules are readily available to any candidate, she said.

“We are all expected to play by the same rules,” she said. “Those of us who have been candidates have read the campaign guidelines and we are expected to adhere to them.”

Johnson said his comments about running for council were made in a private meeting and were not a formal announcement in a public setting. The meeting was open to the public, Poppaw said.

Johnson said the campaign solicitation complaint should be dismissed because he registered a campaign committee with the clerk’s office on Feb. 12. A PayPal account was set up on his website before that, Johnson said, but he has yet to accept any donations.

The money in his campaign coffers is from loans from himself, Johnson said.

The radio show focuses on business and has nothing to do with Fort Collins politics, Johnson said. He is a volunteer with the station and not an employee.